Pet Peeves in RV Parks

[Spade_Cooley]

At the risk of sounding like an old grouch, lets lay out our gripes about camping in RV Parks. I'm currently on Galvestion Texas for a month. Things were quiet until this truck and old camper pulled in next to me alast night. The guy is a door slamber. A constant door shut niose went on for at least two hours. He has a bunch of kids that were also loud but I can overlook that. Kids will be kids. Why didn' he leave his doors open while he set up. Then there is another neighbor who fires up a truck with loud pipes and lets it run forever. These are my two gripes of the day. Seems like every park you stay in has has the loud truck start up and idle. Part of the problem is sites are so close together. Anyone else?

[dedmiston]

I work from home and my two dogs are convinced that it's their duty to scare away the Amazon drivers, because evidently it's obvious to the dogs that the Amazon peeps are coming to murder us.

I can call out to them in the other room and our Golden will come to my side in my office and hang her head to apologize to me because she "forgot" that she's not supposed to bark. My Aussie will continue to bark regardless, because she knows that I'm too dumb to know about the murder thing. Her proof is that she always barks and we've never been murdered by Amazon, FedEx, or Jehovah's Witnesses. Not yet, at least.

Different breeds. Different individual dogs. Different behavior.

They've camped with us for years and I usually ask the neighbors. From their reports it appears that the dogs never bark unless someone comes close to our trailer (into our camp). The predictable exception though is that they absolutely lose their minds when we get back to camp, so there's a span of 45 seconds between the time we pull up and the time we get inside and they stop. We even jokingly say, "Cue barking dogs" as we pull up to camp (or home).

[toedtoes]

@ferndaleflyer - I think you missed my point. It's that you can't teach a JRT (or other barky breeds) not to bark bark bark. Nor that every JRT is going to have a barking problem.

I'm just pointing out that it is not a "one size fits all" process and that with some breeds you are working against a much stronger barking instinct than with others.

Training my shepherd mix puppy not to bark was much simpler and straight forward than teaching my russell terrier mix (who also has shih tzu and peke - two more barky breeds).

[ferndaleflyer]

Since my daughter showed horses we of coarse had to have a Jack Russel, 3 over the years. They live a long time but I don't remember ever having a barking problem with any of them. The last 2 lived 17 and 18 years. I sure miss them even after being gone for about 7 years. You got train them.

[toedtoes]

@Cummins while I agree with you in principal, I think you have over simplified the issue.

It's not as simple as using a spray bottle of water to stop most dogs from barking. There are many breeds who have been bred to bark. Goldens are not one of them.

Had you tried training a jack russell not too bark by squirting him, I can guarantee all you'd accomplish is a very wet dog and a chewed up water sprayer and a whole lot of barking for another game of "get the water".

And it's not popular to get a rescue with bad habits. It's popular not to buy a puppy when there are thousands of homeless dogs sitting in shelters and rescues. The bad habits you see in rescues were very likely caused by people who bought a puppy and did everything wrong (including being too strong willed and trying to force natural behaviors out of the dog).

But you do point out why people hate dogs - because too many owners turn a deaf ear on their own dogs. As I said before, the dog's owner should be bothered by their dog's barking more than the neighbors are. If not, then the owner's deaf ear will make the neighbors even madder. However, if the owner made any effort to redirect their dog from barking, the neighbors would, for the most part, temper their frustration understanding an effort has been made by the owner.

[Lantley]

The last 3 post were spot on.

1. Don't sweat the small stuff. As Ford Truck Guy mentioned.
If you ever experience a real tragic event you realize that there are many pitfalls to life. However barking dogs, and CG noises are very trivial in the grand scheme of things. There are certainly enough positives when camping that the nuisances issues are not even worth mentioning.

2. Try direct communication if it's really an issue speak to your neighbor directly, you just might resolve the issue!
Posting about the issue days or weeks later on the forum does nothing to actually resolve the problem.

[mdcamping]

^^

I agree, similar for us a few years ago a camping neighbor had a porch light on which was more like a flood light that burned through our canvas ends on our hybrid TT. I politely ask him to turn off the light, he was fine with the request.. problem easily solved. Respectful communication goes a long way

We also try to find the better maintained RV parks/campgrounds that enforce their own rules/security, this helps reduce the risk of running into a negative experience.

Mike

[schlep1967]

Most of the issues can be handled with communication and a little tact. We had some young men tent camping behind us last year. They were about 50 feet away through a woodline. Not really easy to see just how close you are. Mid day I'm sitting by my fire reading and listening to my radio. They are doing the same. A Beatles song came on and they cranked the music. It was a good song and I understand when your favorite song comes on you may want to turn it up. When the next song came on and the music didn't get turned back down I walked out around the treeline and approached their site. When they saw me coming into their site they turned down the music. I simply pointed out that I was sitting right on the other side of those trees and can't even hear my own music. They apologized and said thanks for coming over. I could have yelled through the trees demanding they turn it down. That probably wouldn't have received the same reaction.
And when I walked back to my own site, the camper across the lane yelled a nice thank you to me.

[ford_truck_guy]

I look at it this way,,,,

I am on borrowed time, 11 years ago at the young age of 47 my heart stopped… dead… notta, ziltch and I was going south as it GOT HOT a few seconds before dropping… I would have rather seen white fluffy clouds ! I am now the lucky owner of a pacemaker to aide in the everyday stuff like living ! ! !

I was always told to “ don’t sweat the small stuff”…. So i don't… I am just thrilled that I am able to camp, work, live, and see my first grand daughters birth last July…

Everything else is just white noise……. Stop worrying about doors, lights, sounds, and enjoy LIFE..,

I thank so many people daily for granting me borrowed time…

[Cummins12V98]

cummins2014 wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:
"......most likely like some on here you will be annoyed , yes get over it."

Unfortunately, that is the attitude of many people with noisy dogs.

No ,not my attitude its just a fact ,they will let out a bark or two at times before being told to stop . I agree dogs left alone in an Rv to bark is annoying . I am not one of those owners , but I will repeat to make a point ,get over it if you hear a bark or two at times .

Don't think "a bark or two" was ever mentioned.

YES it's easy to stop them from barking, it simply takes some dedication and a stronger will than the dog. One VERY simple method is a water bottle sprayer.

I stay in a 55 up Park in the winter months. Lots of dogs mostly smaller breeds. VERY interesting how some dogs simply don't make a peep and others got ballistic.

ONLY time our Golden Retriever barked was to let us know something was wrong like me walking on our roof she would let out a bark and my wife would tell her it's ok and that was it. At camp as people walked by she never made a noise. Started training her as a pup.

It's the popular thing now to have a "rescue" that has already developed bad habits.

You can cure the barking with any dog it just takes time but most would rather turn a blind ear!!!

[AllegroD]

A whole lot of, "I'll do what I want, and don't care about how it affects others." in this discussion.

[Shadow57]

Than goodness none of you were around when a bunch of us old cowboys decided to take over our home campground and take all the grandkids camping. We had all the sites in our area except 2. There were ponies, horses, dogs, bicycles, water balloon fights (which they picked up pieces) and all kinds of games. I felt so bad I went to apologize and they just laughed and thanked us for the entertainment. Said they loved kids from afar and really enjoyed it. I still felt bad because of all the complaints I read on here. Same campground should be avoided on Derby Day 2023, and it won't be kids.

[toedtoes]

Exactly!

I'll add:

Be forgiving of others. Allow that others have different ideas of "camping" and don't jump on them for everything you don't like at the very first instance.

And if you are having an "event" that will include music, loud cheering, etc, or have kids or a young dog that might be annoying to others, be proactive. Let your neighbors know that your baby has an ear infection and might cry during the night, or that your new puppy is still learning his camping ettiquete, and so on, and your neighbors will be a lot more understanding.

I once had a stag party in the site next to mine. When the 8 or so 20-something guys showed up, they came over and let me know it was a stag "campout". They told me they didn't want any trouble and if they got too loud to just tell them to shut the f up. They were great campsite neighbors. They had a blast and I didn't stress that if it got too loud (it didn't), I would be dealing with jerks.

[spoon059]

If people were more conscious and considerate of others around them, the world would be a much better place. I stress to my children the need to be considerate of others.

I don't want to hear your music, so I don't turn my up for you to hear mine.
I don't want to have your bright lights on all night, so I turn mine off unless we are doing something under them (dinner, cards, etc).
I don't want to hear your dog barking, so I make it so my dogs don't bark. If we leave the campground, we turn the radio on inside and close the blinds. Dogs can't see or see anything outside to annoy them, they won't bark. When we are outside, I immediately attend to my dogs if they bark incessantly.

It's really not that hard. Be considerate, think of others and treat people how you want to be treated.

[Shadow57]

toedtoes wrote:

shelbyfv wrote:
Be nice if some folks who need a dog with them all the time could be encouraged to switch to a teddy bear, weighted blanket or Xanax. Would be cheaper as well.

Or maybe those who can't stand the sight of a dog could stick to parks/campgrounds that don't allow dogs.

Seriously, I don't "need" my dogs with me. But I enjoy camping with them and they enjoy camping. I go where they are welcome. I pick up after them. I don't leave them unattended and barking. I don't walk them to your site to go poop. And they are always on a leash. If my bringing them upsets all my neighbors, then I need to rethink. If my bringing them upsets just you, then you need to rethink.

I agree with you. To the person who thinks dog people should get a teddy bear or Xanex. It's honestly why we have a motor home, plus I find hotels creepy. I feel the same way about how some people contain their children. I travel with horses and a couple of little dogs. I don't bring them for your kids to pet. Which honestly sometimes I don't mind, if they are good kids. The little monsters that scream and run wild all the time I can do without. So happy we usually camp in a big group.

ETA: I'm not a kid hater by any means, I find them very entertaining. However when you dump your kids on our campsite to feed while you go play I get very upset. When there is an all adult group we sure don't want your kids just because we have food and music. We usually don't mind if the parents are with them, but have had kid dumpers a lot. Just because we look like and are grandparents...... we don't want to babysit kids. If we do we bring our own. Not people in our group just camping kids who wander up and won't leave and parents don't come get.

[toedtoes]

shelbyfv wrote:
Be nice if some folks who need a dog with them all the time could be encouraged to switch to a teddy bear, weighted blanket or Xanax. Would be cheaper as well.

Or maybe those who can't stand the sight of a dog could stick to parks/campgrounds that don't allow dogs.

Seriously, I don't "need" my dogs with me. But I enjoy camping with them and they enjoy camping. I go where they are welcome. I pick up after them. I don't leave them unattended and barking. I don't walk them to your site to go poop. And they are always on a leash. If my bringing them upsets all my neighbors, then I need to rethink. If my bringing them upsets just you, then you need to rethink.